Chemical container



Patented Feb. 6,- 1934 UNITED STATES CHEMICAL CONTAINER Eugene A. Hults, Saltville, Va., assig'nor to The Mathieson Alkali Works, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of Virginia Application January 5, 1932. Serial No. 584,884

15 claims. (c1. i2-91.5)

This invention relates to the transportation of refrigerants, speciiically solid carbon dioxide, and is concerned more particularly with a novel vehicle or car body especially suited for the dis tribution of that material, the body being so consructed as to permit rapid and easy loading and unloading while keeping loss of its contents at a minimum both during these operations and while it is in transit.

As is well known, solid carbon dioxide sublimes at a temperature of about 109 F. and the gas evolved is nearly twice as heavy as air at ordinary temperatures because of the high specific gravityv of the gas and its low temperature. The evolved gas may accordingly be employed to excellent advantage as an insulating atmosphere for the solid product, and in the transportation and use of solid CO2 this atmosphere should be preserved io the utmost extent possible by preventing the escape of the cold heavy gas from the vicinity of the solid and consequent i'nltration of relatively warm air. In the-construction of a vehicle or car body for transportion of solid CO2, the preservation of the atmosphere of evolved gas presents a difficult problem because it is practically impossible to build an easily operated door for the body or the containers therein which will remain gas-tight without freezing shut and the difficulty is increased because the shocks and jars incident to transit result in a weaving motion of the car which tends to permit leakage of the gas through closures. The best results may be obtained by providing the body with containers having top openings and a gas-tight bottom and sides, since with Jrhat construction gas can escape only through the openings provided and the consequent evolution of the cold, heavy gas with its upward flow out of the container prevents the relatively warm light air from entering. -Also, the ice at the iop of the container is continuously bathed in the cold CO2 and a more uniform temperature throughout the container is obtained.

In spite of all precautions that can be taken and of the use of relatively thick insulation for the container, ihe ice' wastes away with some rapidity and this results in the blocks,.and particularly those at the top of the container, assuming an irregular shape. If the wasting action continues for some time, the blocks may become so irregular as to-be unsalable. It is, therefore, highly important that the car or vehicle body be provided with containers or compartments so arranged as to permit the ice to be unloaded in the same order as that in which it was loaded, since otherwise certain of the blocks of ice de livered to the consignee would be of much greater -age than others and of much more irregular (shape.

When the car is loaded and unloaded in a relatively short time, for example, eight hours or less, it is usually suiiicient to provide the body with a pair of compartments or containers. The coniainer rst lled may then be rst emptied and during the loading and unloading only one half of the lading is exposed. However, if the car is loaded over a period of a day or more and is not quickly unloaded but employed for storage at the delivery point, as is often the case, an increase inthe number of compartments is essential so that only a small amount of the lading may be exposed during the loading and unloading operations.

Another important requirement of a car or vehicle body for transporting solid carbon dioxide is that the ice be readily accessible. The top blocks in the compartments or containers should be within easy reach so that they can be disposed of without delay and it is desirable that the workmen be able to load and unload the compartments without having to stand on the ice itself, in which position their feet are covered by the blanket of extremely cold gas. Also, if the ice in the compartments is readily accessible, the car may be loaded and unloaded with a minimum amount of accessory equipment, such as raised platforms, special conveyors, etc.

Furthermore, inasmuch as the carbon dioxide blocks are usually packed in large masses in the vehicle, they have a considerable inertia and momentum under ordinary transportation conditions so that the blocks toward the rear ofthe vehicle are frequently crushed and broken by the pressure produced by the forward blocks due to mass inertia during sudden starting or acceleration of the vehicle and the forward blocks are similarly crushed or broken by the pressure produced by the rear blocks due to mass momentum during sudden stopping or deceleration of the vehicle. This mass inertia and momentum of `the blocks should therefore be minimized to prevent small units, thereby permitting the ice to be unloaded in the same order as that in which it was loaded, with a minimum amount of labor. Also with this method of loading the car, the mass inertia and momentum of each unit are relatively low, so that breakage due to these causes is entirely eliminated or substantially reduced. The compartments are further arranged and constructed so that the total load of ice is equal at least to the minimum carload of 45,000 pounds and, because of the large number of compartments in which the total load is contained, little of the ice is exposed during the loading and unloading operations and the Work can be performed without extreme discomfort to the workmen. A novel laminated insulating structure for the compartments is also provided, which is light in weight, efficient and moisture-proof.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be made to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of an embodiment of my invention in the form of a railroad car;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section view on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 4 illustrates the manner in which the insulating walls of the compartmentsare constructed.

Referring now to the drawing, the car 10 is in general of standard'construction and consists of a body 11 mounted on the usual trucks 12. This body preferably has double end walls separated by a dead air space 13, and it may also vhave insulation across the roof, as at 14, between the roof cross members 15. The floor of the car is covered by a thick mat 16 of insulation such as the fibrous material sold under the commercial name of Celotex, the thickness of the mat being, for example, 14 inches. This mat 16 of insulation is of the laminated construction illustrated in Fig. 4 and is made up of a number of layers 16 of the Celotex or other insulating material. Each layer 16' is in turn built up of several sheets of the insulating material secured together in laminated relation by films of water-proof glue. The laminated layers 16 are secured together with a membrane impervious to moisture between them and for this purpose a layer or nlm 17' of a heavy plastic waterproofing compound may be employ'ed. The layers are arranged in offset relation so that the joints 18 between the ends thereof are staggered, thus avoiding a continuous joint K through the entire mass of insulating material.

" The outer surfaces of the insulation may then be coated with a heavy layer of the waterproong compound. With this construction, it will be apparent that the layers 16 in the mass' are so protected by the membranes that moisture cannot permeate the entire can of insulating material, be condensed therein, and thus reduce the insulating capacity of the material.

The car is provided with a plurality of compartments 17 for the ice extending across the car and in the construction illustrated there are eight compartments arranged in pairs with a runway between. The walls of the compartments are made of insulating material preferably built up in the manner described in connection with Fig. 4 and are of great thickness', for example, 17 inches.

.Each compartment is provided with top openings,

preferably two per compartment, which are closed bv covers 18.

The compartments are similar in construction and each contains a substantial number of blocks of ice of commercial size, those illustrated having a capacity of 105 blocks of cubical form, approximately 10-inches on a side. Each compartment is made slightly larger than the exact dimensions of the group of. blocks so that a small amount of scrap ice may be introduced into the compartment above and below the blocks to provide additional protection.

The compartment covers include a block of insulating material, preferably constructed as described in connection with Fig. 4, and attached to the under side of a metal plate 19. Each cover is hinged to a plate 20 mounted on the compartment wall, the hinge being provided with a heavy spring 21 which supports a large proportion of the weight of the cover, for example, 95%. Each cover, when in closedposition, accordingly rests relatively lightly on the solid rubber gasket 22,

which may be set in a recess formed in the side wall of the compartment as at 23, or mounted in a recess in a suitable projection 24 from the side wall. Each cover is provided with a handle 25 and with a cam opening and closing device 26 of conventional construction.

Each compartment is provided with a gas tight metal lining 2'7, which is preferably of copper sheeting, for example, of 20 gauge thickness and having brazed seams. Copper is preferable to iron for the purpose since it does not become brittle at the low temperature of solid CO2 and is, therefore, better able to withstand the shocks to which it is subjected in transit. If desired, however, various other linings may be used, such as canvas coated with asphalt. At the bottom of the compartment is a removable hardwood oor 28.

With this arrangement, the bottom and sides of the compartment are gas tight and the rubber gaskets under the covers effectively prevent the entrance of air. This arrangement, however, permits the escape of CO2 gas evolved by the wasting away of the ice when the gas reaches a suicient pressure to overcome the unsupported weight of the cover 18. Although the passage of the gas may result in freezing up of a cover, the gasket is so narrow that it does not offer substantial resistance to the opening of the cover by the cam mechanism. The compartments are long and narrow in ay direction across the car and this is an important feature. Since the ice weighs about 90 pounds per cubic foot and has considerable inertia sudden stoppage of the car would result in crushing of the blocks at the forward end of the compartment if there were too great a weight of ice behind them. In my construction, the loading in each compartment is only three blocks wide in the direction of the length of the car, and because of this, the weight of the ice in such a compartment is not suflicient to cause breakage of blocks in transit.

Between the compartments of each pair is a space 29 at the bottom of which is an elevated walkway 30 which may be supported ab'ove the bottom of the car on the compartment walls. This walkway is raised approximately 2 feet above the floor so that the tops of the compartments are about waist high of the workmen, with plenty of headroom remaining. From the walkway the workmen may reach the ice in the compartment without having to step in on top of the ice and thereby expose their feet to the extremely low temperature. The front edges of the compartments are rounded oi as at 31 and this facilitates the loading and unloading of the ice.

The adjacent compartments of successive pairs are separated by a partition 32 which may be of balsa wood about four inches thick. Each pair of compartments is thus entirely separate and independent of the adjacent pairs and the car is provided with doors 33 on each side which lead to the space between the compartments of a pair.

The new car may be of standard outside dimen sions, and carry at least a minimum carload weight of 45,000 pounds of ice in spite of the heavy insulation employed on the ioor and for the compartment walls. The load is evenly distributed and readily accessible and the compartments can be iilled and emptied with only a portion of the load exposed at any time. Also the compartments may be loaded and unloaded in the same order, thus preventing loss of ice by reason of excessive wasting away, and the handling of the ice requires little manual labor and involves no discomfort Ato the workmen. By means of a permanently installed conveyor with which the car doors are brought successively into line, the ice can be delivered almost into the compartments and the manual handling of the ice involves carrying it for distances less than the width of the car.

I claim:

1. In a vehicle, the combination of a body having a top, a plurality of long, narrow compartments within the body and extending transversely thereof, said compartments terminating below the top of said body and having walls of insulating material and partitions extending transversely of the car between successive groups of compartments and forming a plurality of rooms in the body, each containing a plurality of compartments.

2. In a vehicle, the combination of a body having a top, a plurality of long, narrow compartments within the body and extending transversely thereof, said compartments having walls of insulating material and terminating below the top of said body partitions extending transversely of the body between each successive pair of compartments and forming a plurality of rooms in the body, and passageways leading into each of the rooms and between the two compartments of each pair.

3. In a vehicle, the combination of-a body having a top, a plurality of long, narrow compartments within the body and extending transversely thereof, said compartments having walls of insulatng material and terminating below the top o1' said body. said compartments being spaced apart to provide transverse aisles between them, and a walkway in each aisle elevated above toms of adjacent compartments.

4. In a vehicle, the combination of ,a body having a top, a plurality of long, narrow compartments within the body and extending transversely thereof, said compartments terminating below the top of the body and being spaced apart to provide ,transverse aisles between them, an elevated walkway in each aisle, and top closures for the compartments accessible from the corresponding aisles.`

5. In a vehicle, the combination of a body having a'top, a plurality of long, rnarrow compartments within the body and extending transversely thereof, said compartments terminating below the top of the body partitions extending transversely of the body between each successive pair of compartments and forming a plurality of rooms they botin the body, the compartments of each pair being spaced apart longitudinally of the body to provide a transverse aisle through each room, and top closures for the compartments accessible from' the corresponding aisles.

6. Inv a vehicle, the combination of a body, a plurality of long, narrow compartments in the body and extending transversely thereof, partitions extending transversely of the body between each successive pair of compartments and forming a plurality of rooms in the body, the compartments of each pair being spaced apart longitudinally of the body to provide a transverse aisle through each room, an elevated walkway in the aisle of each room, and a door in the body for access to the walkway of each room.

'7. In a container for solid carbon dioxide, the combination of a receptacle having an open top, a closure for the open top, and means independent of the parts of the receptacle which the closure engages for supporting the greater proportion of the weight of the closure, whereby the carbon dioxide gas may escape around the closure when it reaches a pressure suicient to overcome the unsupported weight of the closure.

8. In a container for solid carbon dioxide, the combination of areceptacle havingy an open top, a closure for the open top, sealing means of relatively small eiective area between the closure and -the opening in the receptacle arranged to prevent the entrance of air into the receptacle and permit the escape of carbon dioxide gas from the receptacle, and spring means for supporting the greater proportion of the weight of said closure.

9. In a container for solid carbon dioxide, the combination of a receptacle having an open top, a closure for the open top, means independent of the parts of the receptacle which the closure engages for supporting the greater portionv of the weight of the closure, and air tight sealing means between the closure and the opening in the receptacle, whereby the carbon dioxide gas may escape around the closure when it reaches a pressure suflicient to overcome the unsupported weight of the closure and infiltration of air into the receptacle is prevented.

10. In a container for solid carbon dioxide, the combination of a receptacle having an open top, a closure for the open top, said closure having a. relatively low free weight to permit escape of carbon dioxide gas under predetermined pressure from the receptacle.

11. In a container for solid carbon dioxide, the combination vof a receptacle having an open top, a closure for the open top, and a spring hinge connecting the closure to the receptacle and supporting the greater proportion of the weight thereof.v

12. In a container for solid carbon dioxide, the combination o f a receptacle having an open top, a closure for 'the open top, a sealing gasket of small eiective area between the closure and combination of a receptacle having an opening,

a cover therefor, a. narrow gasket on the joint between the cover and the opening o1 the receptacle, said gasket having a small area of contact relatively to the area of the cover for reducing the effect of freezing of the said joint, and

having a top, a plurality of compartments in said body extending transversely thereof; each compartment having walls of insulating material and a top lying below the top of said body, a closure in the top of each compartment, partitions subdividing said body into rooms, each containing at least a pair of compartments, the compartments in said room being separated to form an aisle extending across the body, and doors at each end of each aisle.`

EUGENE A. HULTS. 

